Executive Director Friends of Arava David Weisberg, Arava Institute Alumna Ilana Meallem, Anita Steen, Terry Steen, Arava Institute Alumnus Mousa Diabat, a Hazon executive and President Friends of Arava Jack Platt. Terry Steen, trustee of the Jewish Times Corporation, was honored last Sunday, June 27, with the Friends of the Arava Institute’s “Peace Building and Environmental Stewardship Award.” The ceremony was held at the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia, with Rabbi Aaron Gaber of Congregation Beth Judah presenting the award on behalf of the Institute.

The Arava Institute is the premier environmental teaching institution in the Middle East, preparing future Muslim, Christian and Jewish leaders to cooperatively solve the region’s environmental challenges.

Steen participated in 2008 and 2009 in Arava’s annual bicycle ride from northern Israel to Eliat – a distance of 300 miles. The ride’s participants have raised thousands of dollars for the institute and Hazon, the largest American Jewish environmental organization.

In accepting the honor, Steen said, “Like a link in a bike chain, if one link breaks the bike stops. I am a link in the chain for a better world for tomorrow, for my children and grandchildren.”